"How astute you are. They sure are chocolates. You'll get two of these on Saturday or Sunday in your conference kit."

"But there are 8 bags and chocolate not in bags. Who are the extras for?" she asked.

"They're for me of course. I'm going to gobble them up!" I said. And I meant it.

"Right now?" she asked.

"Yep," I answered and opened one.

"Ohh. I wish I knew what they tasted like," she hinted heavily.

"They taste like guts," I told her. "Guts and bad feelings," I added.

She didn't believe me for a millisecond.

"Mommy! This wrapper smells like it tastes good," she said.

So I shared the other one with her. And if you thought she was chatty BEFORE the chocolate, you should've heard her AFTER.

She talked for 5 minutes straight at top speed about it and how cool the wrapper was and how shiny and how she can make the wrapper look neat pressed against things like my allergy medication bottle lid and one wrapper being a puppy and one being a kitten and it could hold snacks and be a butterfly on and on and on.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

I knew I loved him before he was born. When he was just a lima bean making me throw up multiple times a day, he had my heart.

I will never forget that direct connection to my Heavenly Father I felt that first evening with my newborn son. The love I felt for him witnessed to me of the love my Heavenly Father feels for us. I would love this child eternally no matter what. I sang him to sleep that night after feeding him and just felt so grateful for that glimpse into heaven.

Friday, December 23, 2016

At the beginning of November, I approached my children with the idea of homemade gifts for the sibling they chose for the Christmas gift exchange. Being of the rarely employed variety of children, they liked this idea.

When they chose a name out of the bowl, I wrote it down in case they forgot or in case they needed ideas. Only two came to me for ideas: Bun and Pookie.

Honestly not sure if the littles even did it, but I figured that was up to them. I offered a couple times for them to run an idea past me. So we'll see if the younger kids did anything...

Bun had Hammy's name for the exchange. He decided to make a padded binder.

Hammy's favorite color is yellow, so that's what Bun went with.

Gabbers bought an inexpensive plain magenta shirt (Peach's favorite color) and then decorated it for Peach.

Pookie thought that this would be a fun shirt for Biscuit since she likes stars. I think it looks like it says, "Easter," but he thought she'd like it since her name starts with an "E."

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

I have thoroughly been enjoying the launch of my new business, A Crafty Home. I had no idea it would take off so quickly, but I'm super grateful as it's helped provide for our Christmas.

You can currently find its page on Facebook and it will soon have its own website.

I'm prepping to add tutorials; so stay tuned!

Thanks for joining me and encouraging me in my journey!

For one of the most common asked about tutorials, visit my friend, Connie's blog where she posted my Glittered and Personalized Ornament How-To. I'm so grateful since blogger has been on the fritz for me these past couple months. I think I've figured it out!

Friday, September 02, 2016

Mom's Granola
This is how my mom's original recipe reads in her published recipe book. I've loved this recipe since I was a child.
Makes about 7 1/4 cups cereal.
Preparation time: 7 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (high-altitude 350 degrees).
2. Mix, oats, wheat germ, almonds, coconut, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
3. In a small saucepan, or in a glass bowl in the microwave, metl butter with salt and brown sugar, until sugar dissolves. Add vanilla to dissoled sugar mixture; pour over mixture and stir until well coated.
4. Lightly grease 9-by-13-inch and spread mixture in pan.
5. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until mixture begins to turn golden.
6. Cool completely; store in an air-tight container.
7. Serve cold with milk.

VARIATIONS: (1) Substitute vegetable oil for butter; and honey for sugar. (2) Omit any ingredient you dislike (with the exception of the oats!).

TIP: If you like raisins, currants, or chopped dates, stir 1/2 cup to 1 cup of one or more after baking so they won't dry out.

These are the ingredients and amounts we use for really yummy gluten-free granola-- and we usually quadruple it.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (high-altitude 350 degrees).
2. Mix, oats, wheat germ, almonds, coconut, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
3. In a small saucepan, or in a glass bowl in the microwave, metl butter with salt and brown sugar, until sugar dissolves. Add vanilla to dissoled sugar mixture; pour over mixture and stir until well coated.
4. Lightly grease 9-by-13-inch and spread mixture in pan.
5. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until mixture begins to turn golden.
6. Cool completely; add raisins and store in an air-tight container.
7. Serve cold with milk.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Wednesday (the day after we got to Grandma and Papa's house) we contacted the Les Schwab in town and told them about our first tire and how the shaking started again with the van after it was replaced. Upon inspection they discovered the rear left tire was bulging and about to blow out and said we were VERY fortunate to notice the shaking and have it seen before it did.

So before we could head to a totally awesome Pokemon birthday party for my nephew, we hung out in the Les Schwab lobby while they put a new tire on it.

The good people at Les Schwab checked the remaining two tires (that weren't purchased from them) and said they looked fine but it's possible we had a bad batch of tires and they could have the same problems.

Then we ventured on to my nephew's birthday party where my creative sister put together an amazing Pokemon bash with more than 25 kids, a handful of rare live Pokemon running through the neighborhood (in colorful leggings) and kids chasing them down with a giant pokeball.

Monday, August 15, 2016

(Hammy was trying to sleep so time would pass quickly to get to Grandma and Papa's faster.)

The van started shaking about 30 minutes from home.

We called the company that did our brakes three days prior and asked if they thought it was brake related.

After asking several questions, they determined it to be a bad tire and asked us to look at it and see if it was visibly uneven.

Their shop was closing right then but they invited us to come back in the morning and they'd take a look. He also said we could switch out the tire for the spare, drive to Utah, and get a new one there.

We stopped at the Oriental marketplace half an hour later to pick up a few important things for our trip like seaweed, rice crackers, dried ice cream, and kimchi for Papa.

Danny got out while I shopped and checked out the tire. It was definitely bulging. He was able to locate a little tire place that was just about to close. They promised to wait for us to get there.

The tire shop guys watched in amazement, their eyes getting bigger, as I unloaded the kids from the van.

They replaced the tire saying it would've blown out at any moment and we were really lucky to notice the shaking in time.

And these concerned parents inevitably ask me how old my kids were and how long it took them.

Did you read my advice? It really depends on the child. It really does.

But still out of curiosity they want to know how long. So I tell them this:

1- took 1 1/2 years -- on the autism spectrum (but didn't know it at the time)-- started training at 2 years

2- 10 days -- didn't start training until 3 years 2 months because she walked late and was too tiny to make it up the stairs fast enough

3- 1 1/2 years -- started too young (at 2) because I mistook his agreeable attitude for readiness.

4- 1 1/2 years -- anxiety issues started at 2 years 2 months and was pregnant with twins and then had them early which complicated things

5- 7 days -- started training at 3 years 4 months -- I put it off because I didn't want to train twins. But then it worked out great!

6- 10 days -- started training at 3 years 4 months -- ^^ his twin

7- still working on it 😱-- has medical issues -- I also mistook her agreeable demeanor for readiness and tried to train her younger than 3. (She's now 5 years 9 months.)

8- 5 months-- we waited until 3 1/2 years because we kept hoping older sister would "get it" and because she has some sensory processing issues -- and she is about 90% done with training and needs reminders to go before bed.

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So now you know. Lots of praise and lots of prayers will get you through.